“Spoken down to, ripped off, arrogant staff and repairs you’re booked in for don’t have the necessary parts so another visit required. Faults not diagnosed multiple times until out of warranty then magically diagnosed with the attached fee of course. Was the diagnostic even run at all? Nothing seemed updated and as I said diagnosed.
Do people fall for this con game?
Will never set foot in another Arnold Clark’s
A waste of time and money for a lacklustre unprofessional service.”
“I was a 3-time customer of Arnold Clark; unfortunately, I will never be one again.
Should you have any major issues following purchase, please beware that their post-sales service is appalling. I lost hours of personal and work time in communication with them and travelling to and from branches, not to mention an undue amount of stress attempting to resolve the situation and in communications with an incompetent workforce.
8 days following purchase, I raised a fault with the vehicle to Arnold Clark. When given the opportunity to find the fault, the Salford branch advised me that the brake discs were pitted and needed replacing, and that this should have been noticed during the pre-sale preparation of the vehicle (a statement which head office have since contradicted).
The brake discs were replaced under the post-purchase warranty; however, they were unable to replicate the fault the vehicle had been booked in for at this time.
The fault recurred and the car was then booked in at the Bolton branch, which was the original purchase site. As I no longer felt safe with the vehicle due to the fault, coupled with what I had been advised regarding the brake discs, I employed my ‘Right to reject’ as per the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Whilst awaiting confirmation of the fault to proceed with rejection, I asked the branch manager, Dan Edwards to investigate why the car had been sold with the brake discs in bad condition (which I had previously requested of more junior staff) and requested the return of the wiring for the dashcam which I had had installed, Dan assured me he would come back to me on these points. Alas, he did not. I sent a follow-up email confirming my intention to reject and raised these points again. They were subsequently ignored, and Dan then became abrupt and ceased communications.
I then wrote a formal complaint to Arnold Clark’s customer service department. I received a response to only one issue raised, with no actual explanation on this point and no response regarding the rest of my complaint, including the queries relating to the brake discs and wiring.
Following this unsatisfactory response, I requested that my complaint be escalated to a senior manager. Almost a week later, I received a response from a manager, this time responding to multiple points raised, although still missing some. I was advised that my comments regarding the service received from staff would be investigated internally and that I would receive no feedback on this and that this was Arnold Clark’s final response.
Arnold Clark clearly do not care about customer retention or customer satisfaction, if the points raised had been responded to accordingly in the first instance, I may have considered purchasing another car from them in the future, but I certainly will not now.
It is also worth noting that Arnold Clark do not offer any courtesy vehicles suitable for those with limitations due to physical ailments or those with an automatic-only driving licence.
In addition, I would encourage anyone looking to purchase a vehicle from Arnold Clark not to use their ADD500 part exchange promotion and to instead negotiate their part exchange value further. Should there be any reason to reject the vehicle, this value is non-refundable as per the T&Cs. No one expects to have to reject a vehicle; if I had any expectation of this, I would have negotiated myself as I would not have accepted the non-promotional value.
I have now suffered substantial loss due to this experience, losing at least 12 hours of work, paying for the fuel of family and friends and for taxis, the cost of dashcam installation, the cost of changing vehicle insurance and tax for a vehicle I barely used (due to safety concerns and faults being looked into at branch), and the part exchange value, with no way to recoup this.
Overall, I now have an extremely negative view of the Arnold Clark brand and the competence of their customer service department, a loyal customer lost”
“A.c have a 4 month wait list to have your car in for electric diagnostics faults £140 .OK so your asked to go 26 miles each way to a garage that only has a 2 week wait list.woopi doo.
Nearly£700 bucks to replace bpga unit .had my car 3 days.in Monday 9am out Wed .got my invoice for the diagnostics but you are forced to ask them for another invoice for the main bill repair detailed invoice it's not automatic that you receive this I discovered .why is that ??”
“Lets face it Arnold Clark is the Ryanair of the motor trade. I have an MOT and service plan for my own car bought new from Citroen Edinburgh. Could not give me an MOT slot for 3+ weeks after MOT ran out and would not extend the timescale. Same issue with my daughter's car (why did I go back to AC---convenient).
Purchased a 2year old car for my daughter was advised a further 3 year guarantee on used cars. Did eventually manage to get a service date a few months ago. Now has electric handbrake issue --advised today no extended warranty and will cost her £174 for them to look at in a week. Off to find email advising have a warranty.
She uses her car to travel to work in the NHS.
Arnold Clark is a profiteering organisation - best avoided as I will do in the future”
“Purchased a Jeep Compass. Sent from Inverness to Stoke-on-Trent apparently having just been 'serviced'. Book Stamped. Decided on an MOT at S-o-T as there was only a few months left on the 71 plate. Sold a 2 year service plan and further 2 MOT's. Then find out that following the 'service' by the Inverness Branch they were unable to reset the service and oil indicators as they did not have the experience
or necessary diagnostic equipment. (I was then quoted £120, by Mangoletsi, for the reset of the service reminder and oil degradation indicators as if they weren't then problems would ensue as it would give engine management problems). I should have been informed that their 'service' plan was not satisfactory and I should have been told that the services should be carried out by Jeep.”
“Bought my Mercedes from chris in Liverpool couldn't have been any nicer said he would send me an manual and fix the scrape on the seat but as soon as the sale was completed he totally ignored my calls and emails and no manual was sent and no seat was fixed just took my money and ran basically”
“We purchased our new Hyundai I20 automatic car on 3rd September 2024 from stirling Renault garage . We had the help of Gavin who helped us in choosing our car . Gavin is a superstar in my eyes . Always polite and friendly and nothing is a problem to him . We highly recommend him and when we go back for another car we would always ask for Gavin . The customer service within the branch is excellent . Big thank you to their manager as well for help to get us what we needed . Thank you again Gavin for all you did . This guy deserves a reward”
“Book car in for service Inverness volvo. What a shambles . Brought car in day before and still after 530pm when ready. They close at 530. Happened as when MOT. I suspect that they do all the volvo cars then leave other car makes till end as cannot be bothered. Willbe checking my oil and filter as previously not done. My advise don't use Inverness Volvo and stay away from Arnold clark service plans 😡🤬”
“Dear Arnold Clark Service Team,
As per today’s service for vechicle 2008 model Peugeot car, we are not satisfied for the service because in standard service the all other service companies at least provides
1. free wash and vaccum
2. Air filter change
3. . New spark plug replace
4. New fuel filter change
These are the basic things provided by all other service authorities and quoted charging £165 . Why we chose Arnold is because we purchased our car from there and we expected a better service.
But these are not done in my service. We are not satisfied with the service provide to us.
Thanking you
Binu”
“Not one single member of staff gave me a friendly smile or made me feel welcome or special as a valued customer when I was in their offices paying for services I received .their was about 15 workers in that office .”
“I received my 1st Motability Car from
Arnold Clark Volvo in Inverness on the 7th August 2024(see my previous review and photos)a fantastic XC 40 Hybrid,Automatic in lovely new colour Sand Dune,1st Class Service from Matthew Motability Rep,and I have now been driving it for over a week and I am truly impressed with its performance!
It’s a real pleasure to drive-smooth running,fantastic acceleration when you require it and I feel safe-it’s a solid motor!
It is a real classy car and I have had many compliments when I have been out and about.
I travelled down to Pitlochry today,a very wet and stormy day on the A9 and the Volvo endured everything that the weather through at it,it was rock solid but most of all I felt safe,secure and I cannot give it enough compliments-I love it and every day I look forward to driving it on my next excursion!
I highly reccomend this Volvo-I promise you will not be disappointed!
So visit Arnold Clark Volvo Inverness!”
“Purchase a car in 2020, no log book or duplicate key was supplied, it's developed faults and their servicing department speak to you like a POS, taking a tone that isn't appreciated. I'll not be using them once I've got rid of this thing, purchased a previous car from the same garage, never had an issue with that one so chanced it again, not so lucky this time, not so much miffed with the car, more the attitude of their staff.”
“I needed to change my Citroen C4 Picasso, which I loved driving, and went to view the Kia Sportage, as my friend had one. After seeing it, I explained to Damien at Arnold Clark that as I often took my grandchildren on camping holidays, I thought the boot was too small! He showed me several other vehicles and discussed several options within my price range (£16000). Consideration was also given to the need for a top box. Once we had established the main criteria for my driving needs, he diligently checked the database and found me the perfect car to replace my beloved Picasso - the 2019 Citroen C4 Spacetourer. This was low mileage and under my budget. I made a reservation request for the car to be brought to Edinburgh. A week later, after returning from a camping holiday, I took it out for a test drive, and it was so exciting to drive it. Touch screen display with easy to read graphics, very responsive to manoevering, and parking up much improved by having front parking sensors. I was extremely pleased to find this vehicle and so impressed with the high level of customer service. Top marks to Damien and Arnold Clark, for service above and beyond.”
“Awful, greedy company. I was sold a faulty car and have had to fight tooth and nail to get my money back. I refused the car in writing within 30 days under Consumer Rights Act 2015, and was subsequently ignored for months. This situation has been dragging on now for 5 months, Arnold Clark have finally admitted they sold me a faulty car and that I was within my legal rights to refuse it - they have agreed to refund 95% of my money, but I still haven’t received it. They could have saved me a monumental amount of stress, time and money by accepting liability in the first place, but they are a very greedy company and they will do anything and everything they possibly can to take your money from you. I strongly advise people to avoid this company- I will certainly never make the mistake of buying from them again.”
“Arnold Clark sold me a Rio 1.0 turbo. All photos, technical spec and documentation showed this. But when I went to arrange my own cover registration showed it was a non turbo 1.2. Two hours of fobbing me off and saying emissions showed it was likely a turbo- and dealing with three staff later I asked them to get a mechanic, to lift the bonnet and see if there was physically a turbo! There wasn't. No apology. No attempt to source another car at same price. Manager failed to email me and it's now a week after my complaint went in and still no reply despite chasing them. They said it would take 5 days to get my money back but put it back in my account after two without even telling me. The kicker is that I was buying this from a Kia main dealer site, the car was a 23 plate so the very same salesmen were actually selling them new last year so presumably knew all along what model it was. Make your own minds up about whether this is acceptable. They left me seriously out of pocket, lost me the sale of my old car because I couldn't pick up the new one etc.
I accept mistakes can be made but not the lack of apology and failure to try and make it good. The enclosed screen shot of their advert clearly shows the wrong model advertised.”
“Knowingly MIS-SELLING vehicles , sold me a vehicle and told me it had full service history but as it was an online service history they would forward me a copy the next day , they then spent 8 weeks looking for the service history but eventually admitted the car didn't actually have FSH and suddenly denied ever telling me this , even though they spent 8 weeks trying to trace it and even sending me an email apology regarding this .
Absolute crooks who have lost a loyal customer over what could have been sorted out pretty easily.
Customer services and complaints are a complete waste of time , this is simply an in house tick box exercise and they simply take the word of the dealership you have an issue with.
Now opened a case with the motor ombudsman.
Looking at the amount of negative experiences by customers i would avoid Arnold Clark at all costs .”
